*** CANCELLED as of 2/28/17 *** Upper-Division Course (400-level) appropriate for upper-level undergraduates or graduate students

Microbial eukaryotes – the protists – are the most genetically, morphologically and metabolically diverse group of eukaryotes, exceeding animals, plants and fungi combined. In the oceans, protists play critical roles in the functioning of food webs and the cycling of carbon and nutrients. They exhibit astounding diversity in form, behavior and function: they can be primary producers, consumers, symbionts or parasites. Photosynthetic protists (e.g. diatoms, dinoflagellates) are the major primary producers in most marine ecosystems. Phagotrophic protists (e.g. ciliates, flagellates) are the dominant phytoplankton and bacterial consumers, and are key links that transfer primary production to higher trophic levels. Many protists, if not the majority, are mixotrophs, capable of both photosynthesis and phagotrophy. In the face of increasing ocean temperature, acidification, hypoxia, and eutrophication, a better understanding of the ecology and evolution of protists is critical to predicting trajectories of future ocean food webs.

The goal of this course is to provide students with an in-depth understanding and hands-on study of the ecology and evolution of marine protists. Through lectures, papers and discussions, students will get an overview of the phylogeny, diversity and ecological roles of the major lineages of microbial eukaryotes. Current ‘hot’ topics and controversies in this field will be critically evaluated in student-led discussions of key papers. On field trips and cruises, we will take advantage of the great variety of marine habitats in the San Juans to explore the diversity and functional ecology of protists in the plankton, benthos, tide pools and tidal flats.

Students will learn field and lab methods and techniques (including sampling, single cell isolation, culturing, microscopic and molecular methods for species identification, video-microscopy for behavioral observations, standard flow cytometry, automated imaging flow cytometry). Students will also have the opportunity to design and carry out short individual research projects.

The instructor for this course is Dr. Evelyn Lessard, University of Washington: School of Oceanography.